


You Carry Me Inside Your Heart

by faequeentitania



Series: Reylo Week 2018 [4]
Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Alternate Universe - Magic, Alternate Universe - Medieval, Animal Transformation, Canon-Typical Violence, F/M, Magic, Magic-Users, Mythical Beings & Creatures, Mythology - Freeform, Reylo Week, Unicorns, Wizards
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-26
Updated: 2018-04-26
Packaged: 2019-04-28 07:03:06
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,037
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14443944
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/faequeentitania/pseuds/faequeentitania
Summary: She was not like the others; called by purity and light. It was the dark, wounded things, the things most in need of her help, her healing touch, that called out to her, pulled at her heart. They always had, and she knew they always would. That was how she had found him years ago, and how she had come to be here now, with him, in this strange new form that wanted nothing but his touch.





	You Carry Me Inside Your Heart

**Author's Note:**

> Day four of [Reylo Week 2018](https://reylo-week-2018.tumblr.com), and this is definitely one of the most unique things I've ever written. Today's prompt: mythology. Thanks for encouraging this wild ride [anerdslife4me](https://archiveofourown.org/users/anerdslife4me).

“This will not go the way you think,” the old magician warned her.

“I have to try.”

A long look, concerned and skeptical, and Rey stepped closer pleadingly.

“Please. You’re the only one who can help me.”

She understood his worry. It was the same one shared by the others, told to her over and over again, _It is too late, he cannot change. He will kill you, you mustn’t do this._

He wouldn’t, she felt it in her heart. She had to try.

The old magician sighed, standing and approaching her with a sad, resigned look.

“You will go to him no matter what, won’t you?”

She nodded, resolute, and he sighed again.

“Then let’s begin.”

The swish of her dress still felt strange around her legs, as did the stone floor under her feet. It was so different from the soft grass and warm soil she had known all her life, as was the castle surrounding her, a daunting fortress of man-made might. And so _cold_ , the sunlight outside only permitted through the small, slender windows, not nearly enough to warm the air.

She longed for the woods, for the sunlight through the trees, the soft sound of a babbling creek, the sparking dew on the leaves every morning. She would have them again, someday, she hoped.

“What are you thinking of?”

His voice pulled her out of her reverie, and she looked up to his face as they walked together through the halls of the fortress.

He was watching her with those soft brown eyes, and Rey couldn’t help the way her own gaze moved across his features. She traced the fall of his soft black hair, curling in elegant waves around his head, down to the prominent shape of his nose, his soft, full lips, then along his sharp cheekbones. Her eyes traced his scar last, the jagged line of it down the side of his face and trailing under his collar always making painful regret pang in her heart.

“The forest,” she answered honestly. “May I go with you today?”

A gentle smile pulled at the corners of his mouth, and he offered her his arm. “I would be delighted.”

She did not like to ride; it felt too wrong, putting a fellow creature under her weight and using its labor for her travel. He assumed she was afraid of riding, of falling off and getting injured, and she did not correct him.

So they walked instead, her arm linked through his as they followed a winding path.

It was a relief to be out of the castle, more so because she was with him.

She reflected on the first time she had stepped through its doors, afraid and uncertain.

The magician had given her something to barter her way into an audience with Supreme Leader Snoke, something the wizened old warlock would be tempted by, despite her appearance to his throne room in simple clothes, looking like nothing but a commoner.

“The Sword of Skywalker,” she presented the magic-infused sword to him. “Offered to your service, under the condition that I be the one to wield it among your Knights of Ren. What say you, my lord?”

Snoke had regarded her coldly, his scarred, aged face sharp in the light of the torches.

“Kylo Ren,” Snoke had looked to his right, to the black-clad, still figure in his daunting black mask.

Kylo Ren had stepped forward, and Rey’s heart raced. She didn’t need to see his face to know this man in black; she had felt him the moment she had stepped foot inside the castle, the fragment of herself inside his chest singing to her in recognition.

“Prove yourself,” Snoke demanded. “Take up your sword against him, prove your mantle.”

Kylo Ren stepped forward, unsheathing his weapon without a word, ready to do the bidding of his master. The blade glowed red, infused as it was with his magic, Knight and sword humming in harmony.

Rey readied herself, the Sword of Skywalker singing blue in her hands, reacting to her magic with complete eagerness.

It almost wasn’t a fair fight, though she knew Kylo Ren would not be aware of why. Every move, every strategy he knew in the art of the sword was hers to possess too, and she easily met him stroke for stroke.

She could hear his breath panting under his mask, could almost feel his quickened heartbeat beside hers in her chest, and she grit her teeth as he brought a heavy swing down against her.

They locked, the downward push of his sword against hers making her arms shake, but she would not yield. With a shout, she channeled her energy, sending it in a hard burst through her body and into her sword, sending him flying back in a crackle of power.

“Enough!” Snoke’s voice echoed through the throne room, and Rey immediately lowered her weapon, but didn’t take her eyes off of Kylo Ren where he was sitting up on the cold stone.

“Very impressive, Rey of Jakku Forest,” Snoke had said darkly, clearly interested in the prospect of attaining someone powerful enough to aptly wield the Sword of Skywalker. “I do believe we can find a place for you in our Knights. Can’t we, Kylo Ren?”

Kylo Ren picked himself up off the floor, clenching his weapon for a moment before sliding it away in its scabbard.

“Yes, Master.”

She had feared he would resent her for her display in the throne room; would consider her a rival or a threat to his position as leader of the Knights of Ren. He surprised her when instead, he had been admiring.

“Where did you learn to fight like that?” he asked her, leading her away from the throne room to get her set up in her own quarters within the castle.

“I was trained under Queen Leia Organa’s guard.” It wasn’t a complete lie.

His head snapped to the side to look at her, and though she could not see his eyes through his daunting helmet and mask, she could feel the weight of his gaze.

“Leia Organa?” he questioned, and Rey nodded. “Then what, pray tell, are you doing in Organa’s rival kingdom, offering yourself to her enemy?”

“The Sword of Skywalker called to me. They did not approve.”

It was a lie based on a half-truth, making it easier to for her to force it past her lips, and Kylo Ren looked at her for a long moment.

They stopped outside a door that she assumed would be her quarters, and he considered her silently before reaching up to remove his helmet.

Rey couldn’t hide the shock on her face at his action, the simple act of showing her his face feeling more intimate than it was rational to be.

It was a face she had not seen in many years, a face that very few in the kingdom were permitted to look upon. It was almost strange to see what the passage of time had done to make the dark haired, frightened boy that haunted her dreams into the man standing before her.

“Your strength will not be crippled here,” he said softly. “On that, you have my absolute word.”

She gave him a little smile. “Thank you, Master Ren.”

“Kylo. You are to be one of my knights, and you have proven yourself a capable fighter. You have earned the right to drop formalities with me.”

“Kylo.” The name left a mournful taste in her mouth, her heart aching to call out the name she knew to be hidden away inside him. _Ben._

His profile was just as arresting as looking into his eyes, and Rey unabashedly admired the way the sunlight added amber hues to his hair as the trail gave a wide turn deeper into the forest.

He glanced to the side at her, a knowing look in his eye, and she pulled him off the trail with her and into the forest.

They would never get lost here; the trees whispered to her, guided her where to go and how to return, and he trusted her to lead them.

The willow tree draped elegantly over the softly flowing river, its branches touching delicately at the water’s surface, and she pulled him under its cover; away from the prying eyes of the sprites and the fae who would be far too pleased to watch them. The willow gave a gentle welcome, ensuring their privacy graciously.

Then he was backing her against its trunk, his gloved hands on her sides and his eyes full of heat.

She should have found the touch of such a man repulsive. It should have bucked against every aspect of her nature, it should have set her instincts into flight, into fear.

But she was not like the others; called by purity and light. It was the dark, wounded things, the things most in need of her help, her healing touch, that called out to her, pulled at her heart. They always had, and she knew they always would. That was how she had found him years ago, and how she had come to be here now, with him, in this strange new form that wanted nothing but his touch.

His lips descended onto hers, all too eager to give it to her, and she wound her fingers into his hair in answer, the piece of her in his chest singing at their closeness. His thorough kiss left her breathless, then he sank to his knees at her feet.

The wind and the river hid her gasps and moans of pleasure under his tongue, and the willow held her upright until her knees were shaking and she had to push away his eager mouth.

His kiss tasted of her wetness and his scent was the warm ash of desire, and not for the first time, she was nearly brought to tears at the frustration that she could not truly share this body with him. Not yet, not until she accomplished what she had come here to do; that was a condition of this spell, lest she be trapped in human form forever, unable to right the wrong she had created.

He accepted the lie of her continued virtue, of the fear that there could be a product of their coupling that would put them both in peril, but his desire to satisfy her did not waver.

“Another?” he murmured against her throat, more of a plead than a question, and Rey moaned at the thought of another climax at the mercy of his tongue.

“Another.”

Later, when the tables were turned, when it was him at the mercy of her mouth against the trunk of the willow, Rey considered telling him the truth.

 _Not yet, not yet, not yet,_ her instincts warned. _He is not ready._

He kissed her, glossy-eyed and dazed in the aftermath of his pleasure, and Rey loved the taste of them mixing between their mouths.

“Run away with me,” he whispered, his arms tight around her waist and his lips tracing a soft line along her jaw. “Rey... join me, let me become your husband. Let me give you everything.”

Tears sprang to her eyes at how fiercely _yes_ wanted to erupt from her lips.

_Not yet, not yet, not yet..._

“Not yet,” she whispered, stroking her fingers through his hair and holding him close. “Not yet, my love.”

“Someday?” he begged. “Please. Promise me.”

“I promise.”

She thought of her promise when she was shoved to her knees before him, her hair wrapped in Snoke’s cruel grip.

“Foolish creature,” Snoke snarled. “Did you really think you could enter my domain and spin your lies unchecked? Tell him!”

He yanked painfully on her hair, and the tears in her eyes were not only from the sharp stab of pain through her scalp, but the afraid, uncertain look in her lover’s eyes.

“I know what you are,” Snoke continued in a poisonous purr beside her ear. “I know why you’ve come. Tell him.”

Her throat was thick, and she would not speak, she could not. Not like this.

“She is so precious to you, isn’t she, my Knight of Ren?” Snoke’s sinister drawl was directed at Kylo now, and her beautiful man in black was so pale, so afraid now that their secret had been spilled into the light of day. “You feel a call to her, do you not?”

Kylo didn’t answer, but his silence was damning enough.

“Did you not wonder why, my good and faithful apprentice?”

A twitch of his eye, barely perceptible to anyone who did not know him the way she did, and she mourned as the seed of doubt was planted.

“What is it about you?” he had asked her shortly after she had arrived there, and Rey had turned from the twilight view at the top of the tower to face his approach.

“I beg your pardon?”

“You,” he murmured, stepping close, his brows furrowed inquisitively. “I know old magic. When you wield that sword... I’ve never felt anything like you.”

“Nor I, you,” she tilted her head at him, delicately allowing her magic to brush against his, the crackle of their combined energy making him gasp, his eyes widening. “Perhaps that’s why the Sword of Skywalker called to me, just as the Slayer called to you.”

His hand tightened on the hilt of the Slayer, the stirring magic in the air making it hum in its sheath.

“Perhaps.”

He inched closer, and Rey let him, the part of her he carried resonating at their proximity.

“You’re not like the others,” he whispered, and he was so close now she could feel the heat of his body, the fading light of the setting sun casting his features into a soft glow. “The old magic doesn’t give itself to them the way it does to us.”

“No,” she agreed. “It does not.”

Closer still, and she had to tilt her head up to keep his gaze.

“The old magic doesn’t call me to them the way it calls me to you.”

Her heart was racing, and she knew his was too, the sacrilege of his confession hanging thick in the air; a black mark against his oath to the Order they had sworn an allegiance to above all else.

“Perhaps we are meant for more,” she had whispered. “Perhaps the old magic has guided us together.”

“Perhaps,” he answered, the shape of the word pressed against her lips.

Now he feared it was a farce, or a spell he had fallen victim to, an illusion to cripple and weaken the Master of the Knights of Ren. On behalf of Queen Leia Organa? A last ditch ploy to entice her long estranged son back to her kingdom and his rightful place?

Rey could sense his swirling thoughts, his doubts and fears churning sharply through his mind, and she felt her tears slip down her face.

Then magic, dark, ancient magic, seeping through the air like a suffocating, oppressive fog, and Rey felt fear closing up her throat.

“Reveal yourself, creature,” Snoke hissed, infusing the words with magic. “Show your true form.”

She was powerless to stop it, crying out as his sinister magic forced its way into her body and shattered the magician’s spell.

She was left reeling, laying on the cold stone floor, sick with the invasion of Snoke’s evil touch; but it was nothing compared to the shock and betrayal on Kylo’s- _Ben, her Ben’s_ \- beloved face.

“Unicorn,” Snoke snarled, “ _The_ unicorn. Come to finish the job, don’t you think?”

Ben’s eyes took in her true form; equine, long legs on a lithe animal body, elegant long neck leading to a long face, and a single, spiraled horn. A horn with a conspicuous, jagged tip, indicative of a break.

He pressed his hand against his chest, over the shard of her horn that was still lodged inside his heart.

“I never meant to hurt you.”

He startled at her voice. Not everyone could hear it in her true form, only those who were graced with magic; like him, like Snoke, like the magician who had granted her the spell to become human.

She hadn’t meant to hurt him. She never wanted to hurt anybody. Unicorns were healers, protectors, nurturers. The opposite of every lie Snoke had been feeding him for years.

When she had found him in the forest, run off from his master, angry and suffering, she should have been afraid. She could feel the pull of darkness in him, even then, and it would have sent any other unicorn running from the feel of it.

But there was something about this human, not a child, but not yet a man, that compelled her.

He was hiding, had lodged himself within a circle of trees, his head in hands and his knees drawn up to his chest.

He was in pain. There was a creeping darkness encroaching on him, and he was frightened, suffering from its sinister touch. She could not leave him in such a state.

Caution, slow steps toward him until he sensed her presence, looking up with a gasp. She stood still, watching him watching her, his eyes wide and filled with wonder.

A tentative step, and then another, and the boy stared at her with an astonished, gaping mouth. Were she human, she would have smiled at his awe, but instead she reached out with her magic, calling to his soul.

An answer, strong and filled with the old magic, and it was her turn to be in wonder. His heart sang with it, overflowing with the pure energy, and Rey had basked in the feel of him.

She was meant to find him, she was sure. Meant to heal the fracture in his heart that was causing him pain, bring unity to his spirit that would let the magic fill him the way it was meant to, the way it was trying to.

She moved closer, lowering her head, and the boy leaned back, wide eyed and curious.

She stepped forward until the tip of her horn pressed against his heart, and he froze, a little frightened and unsure. She called out to his magic, calming and reassuring, and his posture softened in trust.

The pain of her horn penetrating his soft flesh, slipping between the juncture of his ribs to touch his heart would be brief, forgotten almost as soon as it happened, and he would be left whole, darkness no longer able to sink its sinister hooks in him.

It would have, if an arrow hadn’t pierced her side.

The shock of pain was like nothing she had ever felt before, and she screamed, her panicked body giving the fateful thrash that would change both of them irreparably.

His shout of pain almost wounded her deeper than the arrow; the tip of her horn breaking off in his heart. Another sharp cry when the ragged edge left behind cut his skin, leaving a bloody gash up his chest and ending on his cheek when she jerked her head away.

Then she was running; running running running until she couldn’t any more, the bloody trail left behind her weakening her.

They were hunting her. The bearer of the arrow, coming to finish the job.

That’s when the magician found her, helped her struggle to safety, helped her heal from her wound.

“You are a bringer of light,” the magician said. “And Snoke wants to snuff you out. All of you. And now that he has my nephew, he just might do it.”

“Your nephew?”

“The Prince. The only son of Queen Leia Organa. The boy in the forest.”

He was no longer a boy, and he was looking down on her with pained, disbelieving eyes.

“Ben,” she pleaded, “Please, believe me. I wasn’t trying to hurt you, I was trying to help you.”

“Foolish creature,” Snoke snarled. “Do you think your disguise was so clever? Your lie so convincing? I _permitted_ your charade, I allowed your sordid little affair.”

Ben’s eyes ripped from her to stare at his master, his anguish tearing at her heart.

“A test,” Snoke menaced. “of my most exalted Knight. And now the time has come, Kylo Ren, to prove your worth, and fulfill your destiny. Kill her.”

Rey trembled, and Ben’s eyes returned to her prostrate form, a frightening kind of stillness suddenly taking over his features. It chilled her to the bone.

“Ben,” she whispered his name, mournful and filled with longing, but his eyes were flat and cold.

“I cannot be betrayed, you stupid beast,” Snoke’s voice slithered along her senses like poison. “I see his heart, I see his every intent.”

Slowly, Ben drew his sword, the Slayer humming and glowing with raw energy, thirsty for blood.

The end, then. Rey refused to look away from him. If she was going to die by his hand, the last thing she would see on this earthly plane was going to be his beloved face.

Ben slowly stepped forward until he was standing over her, his booted feet just inches from her crumbled legs and his gaze unwavering.

“He will strike true,” Snoke’s voice continued, a vicious sort of glee ringing through it maliciously. “And kill his true enemy!”

Ben raised his sword, and she resigned herself to die.

His furious yell echoed in the high rafters of the throne room as he swung his sword in a lightning fast arch.

Rey gasped, and couldn’t help but flinch at the sudden and unexpected sound of Snoke’s head being separated from his neck. She scrambled away as the wizened old warlock’s body crumbled, a pool of blood spreading from his lifeless form.

The throne room was deathly quiet, both Ben and Rey staring in shock at what he had done. The clatter of his sword hitting the ground felt almost deafening, and Rey flinched again at the raucous sound.

“Run, unicorn.”

Rey stared at him, but he would not meet her eyes.

“What?”

“I said run. I will not chase you; you will never be hunted again. You can return to your forest.”

She took a tentative step toward him, and he tensed, making her heart ache.

“I said run!” he suddenly bellowed, rage and fear twisting his features in a way she had never seen before.

She ran.

She ran, and her devastated heart made her wish he had killed her. Death had to be preferable to this.

Unicorns were eternal. They were not meant to fall in love, not meant to tether themselves to the fragile beings that would age and die without them; but that was exactly what she had done.

She had been doomed from the moment they met, his warm brown eyes staring into hers in the middle of the forest. The magic had willed it, though she could not fathom why. She had failed him. 

Time slipped away from her. It could have been months, it could have been years, it all looked the same as she mourned.

“Rey.”

She almost didn’t hear it. She didn’t know the last time she had moved, laying beside the river and just letting the white noise of the water wash over her.

“Rey?”

 _His voice._ Rey lifted her head, disbelieving of her own senses, but he was there. _He was there._

She forced herself to her feet, shaking away the dirt and the pollen that had settled over her like a cloud.

He was beautiful, more beautiful than she remembered, and his regal black cloak swished around his ankles as he slowly stepped toward her.

Then suddenly he was lowering himself to the ground on one knee, his head bowed in shame. “Forgive me.”

Rey felt sure that she was dreaming.

“Please,” he begged softly. “Forgive me.”

“It is I who should be begging forgiveness,” she murmured, closing the distance between them with small, unsure steps. “I'm so sorry I lied to you. I'm so sorry for every way that I've hurt you, I never wanted to. _Please_ , please believe that.”

“I do,” he said softly, still keeping his gaze on the ground, his voice thick with emotion. “You had a million opportunities to kill me. A million moments where I made myself vulnerable to you, yet you never showed me anything but love and kindness. It was Snoke who was hellbent on my destruction, not you. I see that clearly now. I was a fool.”

Her heart ached and soared at the same time, and she finally closed the distance between them with slow steps.

He gasped as she pressed the side of her head against his, and a moment later he was fumbling off his gloves to gently cradle her jaw.

“I came to you to fix the damage I had done,” she whispered. “I knew you could not accept me in this form, so I chose another.”

“I understand,” he murmured softly, but she wasn't done yet.

“I made a fatal mistake.”

He raised his head slightly to look at her, that inquisitive crease between his brows.

“I did not plan on falling in love with you,” she whispered. “Unicorns are not meant to do that.”

His breath shuddered out of him with devastation, and she gently pressed her face against his again.

“Let me right what I did wrong,” she murmured. “Let me complete the healing magic I tried all those years ago. And then...”

She trailed off, hoping against hope that he would accept her next words, “We find the magician. And beg him to turn me human once more.”

He pulled back again, staring at her aghast, and she feared she had made a mistake.

“You... you wish to become human? For me?”

She nodded solemnly, certain that she had never wanted anything more in her entire, long life. Immortality as a unicorn held nothing; a human life, short as it was, spent with him... her choice couldn't have been easier.

“I love you,” she whispered. “I would give up anything to be with you again. If... if you’ll have me.”

His hands guided her close to him again, resting his cheek against hers and letting out a little, sharp breath of air.

“I want no one but you,” he murmured. “No one.”

Joy. Pure, unaltered joy filled her chest for the first time since they had parted, so bright and strong she feared she would burst.

She pulled back, and his hands fell away as he looked at her with adoration.

Slowly, she lowered her head, bringing her horn to his chest.

He froze, his breath coming in short pants as he battled his sudden fear.

“I trust you,” he breathed, anxious but willing himself to calm down, to trust that she would not hurt him. Shyly, he raised his hands to her head again, settling his palms beside either of her ears with a gentle touch. “I trust you.”

He took a deep breath, closing his eyes, and Rey pushed in.

He hissed at the brief flash of pain, but then it was over; Rey withdrew her head, feeling whole for the first time in years, her horn finally restored, and Ben’s heart finally healed.

Ben rubbed over his heart with his hand, looking at her with awestruck wonder. “It... it doesn't hurt anymore.”

She hoped her joy was clear in her eyes, because her body was filled to the brim with it.

 _“Thank you,”_ he breathed, voice thick with emotion, and she pressed closed to him again, nuzzling his face with her own.

He laughed, a bright, joyful sound that made her heart soar, then stood.

“There are a few wrongs in need of making right today,” he said. “Will you accompany me to Alderaan?”

Alderaan! The home of his mother, Queen Leia Organa, the mother he had given up long ago in his devotion to Snoke.

“I would be delighted, your highness."

“Oh, don't call me that,” he blushed with a laugh. “At least... not until I can call you my queen.”

Rey’s heart raced, and she nudged him with her shoulder in the direction of Alderaan.

“We’d better get moving, then.”

His hand never left the side of her neck on their long walk to Alderaan, the weight of it comforting and peaceful.

Even as they walked through the village just outside the castle, everyone they passed gaping wide-eyed and flabbergasted at the lost prince and the unicorn; his hand held steady with determination.

Someone must have delivered the message to the castle of their approach, as they found the Queen herself waiting for them at the castle gates.

Ben was nervous, Rey could feel it, and as they drew to a stop before the queen she moved closer to him, pressing the side of her head to his chest for a moment in encouragement.

He stroked her neck, and took a deep breath before bowing to his mother.

“I come on a mission of peace,” he said clearly. “To right a wrong that has fallen between us. Will you allow me the opportunity, your majesty?”

The queen stepped forward, and Rey could see tears in her eyes. She pushed gently on Ben’s shoulder, coaxing him out of his bow, before enveloping him in her embrace.

“Of course, sweetheart!” she said emotionally. “You cannot know how many times I have prayed for this day.”

Ben allowed himself to return the hug, his own emotions running high through the air, and Rey took a few steps away to allow mother and son to reconnect.

“I don't know how you did it, kid.” The magician followed the queen from the castle gates, coming to stand with Rey, a pleased smile on his wise old face. “But you did well.”

“Well enough to help me one last time?” she asked softly, and he raised his eyebrows questioningly. “Well enough to perform the spell again, to turn me human?”

The magician seemed surprised, but then he glanced at Ben, who was watching them over his mother’s shoulder.

“Ahhh...” he said sagely. “I see.”

He grinned, giving her shoulder a gentle pat, “Yes, my dear. I think that can definitely be arranged.”

**Author's Note:**

> If you were a major unicorn nerd in middle school like I was (and kind of still am, not gonna lie) you will recognize aspects of this story from Bruce Coville's series _The Unicorn Chronicles_ , as well as probably the most well known unicorn novel in existence, _The Last Unicorn_ , by Peter S. Beagle. I give full credit to their divine, unicorn influence on my young, fantasy obsessed mind.
> 
> Hope you enjoyed! Feel free to come say hi on [tumblr](https://faequeentitania.tumblr.com).


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